Asheville's Sacred Fire

Most of us have experienced the warmth and comfort of gathering around a fire with friends and family, but probably few of us realize that it’s one of humanity’s oldest traditions.

The Sacred Fire Community is a global network of people dedicated to using this tradition to cultivate learning, growing and healing in communities around the world, with three chapters—or “hamlets” as they call them—in the Western North Carolina/East Tennessee area.

Fire gatherings seem to be universal for the “first peoples” on all continents, certainly because of practical reasons such as cooking, light, heat, and keeping predators away. But the estimated 370 million indigenous peoples that remain worldwide today are steadfast in their belief that fire was and still is much more than something to be used for practical reasons. For them, it is a sacred being.

Indigenous cultures have ascribed their tradition’s own names to the sacred spirit of fire. Grandfather Fire is the most common to the native traditions of the Americas and is regarded as a living being with the capacity to unite us and transform us.

“Being mesmerized by the fire is a very compelling, almost magnetic force you could say. Once you are in that space it takes you somewhere,” said Cindy Fogle, a Firekeeper with the Sacred Fire Community located in Maggie Valley, North Carolina. “It opens you and connects you with something much larger than yourself. You’re connecting with the Great Mystery.”

Once a month the public is invited to experience a sacred fire for themselves.

“By gathering around a community fire, each person has the opportunity to connect with and grow in their own spirituality whether that is deepening their relationship with Jesus, the Buddha, the Creator … whatever their tradition is,” Cindy explained. “One doesn’t even need to have a tradition to receive the benefits of sitting with sacred fire. Our hearts are opened at the fire, we discover the value of our gifts to the world. Old hurts are healed, things that have kept us stuck are transformed and we can return to our homes, our jobs, our families, churches or temples renewed, inspired and feeling more connected and inspired.”

It’s the inclusivity of these community fires that is the hallmark of the Sacred Fire Community. Everyone is welcome.

“Humans are actually hard-wired to be in community. We thrive in community. And this is a very important time to gather in community and bring different communities together and focus on what unites us, our common humanity, our shared concerns, rather than succumbing to the emphasis on what keeps us apart,” explains Cindy. “Fire gives birth to deep, authentic community.”

Firekeepers are trained and initiated to use offerings “gifted” to them by the Huichol Indians living in the Sierra Mountains of Mexico. The Huichol are one of the few indigenous peoples that have not been forced off their ancestral homelands or forced to assimilate and have a 5,000-year-old unbroken ancestral connection. The training and initiation required to become a Firekeeper in the Sacred Fire Community is not to be taken lightly.

“It’s a calling and a lifelong spiritual commitment. You are a Firekeeper 24/7, so when you walk in the world, you don’t have to be a saint or be perfect, but it is quite an undertaking,” Cindy explained. “One has to do quite a bit of personal work to become a Firekeeper. You can’t judge or marginalize people different from ourselves and be a Firekeeper. Conflicts may arise around the fire or conflicts in the community. Indigenous peoples would sit around the fire to resolve conflict. There is wisdom in this as fire has the capacity to transform. So you can bring parties together and help them work through things. Working through conflict can produce greater intimacy. We have much more in common than we think we do. Fire is the chance to come together, break bread together, laugh and sometimes cry.”

The breaking of bread usually takes the form of a potluck dinner before the fire. After that, the group progresses to the “hearth” where the Firekeeper has started the fire. Each Firekeeper opens the fire by welcoming everyone, introducing the perspective of making fire sacred and explaining the offerings.

Attendees are invited to make offerings to the fire using cacao, a tree resin called copal, wood and tobacco. The use of these offerings has been sanctioned by the Huichols for the purpose of consecrating the fire in this context and making it sacred. Those seated around the fire are then encouraged to speak from their hearts or can choose to remain silent. A major purpose of the community fire is to celebrate what unites people and is intended to be an antidote to the isolation keenly felt by many people in our society today.

“There is an illusion that technology can solve all our problems and we should be functioning in a very individual way. It’s a lonely way to live. It’s not healthy to be alone in an apartment or condo and feel deep emotions all by yourself,” explained Cindy. “That would have never happened with indigenous peoples. It would have been shared by a group. After a person expresses their emotions around a consecrated fire, people experience that something has shifted and can move on.”

Lisa Lichtig and her husband, Patrick Hanaway, are both initiated Firekeepers in the Asheville, North Carolina, area. They are also both medical doctors, with an emphasis on integrative medicine. In addition, Lisa offers Plant Spirit Medicine and both work as Mara’akames, initiated healers, in the Huichol tradition.

“I became a doctor to care for and help people,” said Lisa, “but I began to see people were still suffering. I asked why? I am discovering how it’s possible for humans to live with joy and purpose and in balance and harmony with the world. Spending time with sacred fire and community can help a lot and sometimes open additional doorways for becoming more fully human and engaged with life.”

Each fall, the Maggie Valley and Asheville hamlets host a Harvest Festival in the Nahuatl tradition, an indigenous culture from a mountainous region of central Mexico. At the Harvest Festival, offerings are given in gratitude for the beneficial rains that nourished the past growing season. Indigenous peoples had many different ceremonies throughout the year conducted according to what they call their original instructions that connected them with the elemental spirits of nature and the cycles of the earth.

Mary Beth Robinson, a trained and initiated Firekeeper in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, guides monthly fires and also conducts a specialty fire to celebrate the Winter Solstice. On the shortest day of the year, the evening begins with the consecration of the fire. Instead of speaking, the group writes down on paper what they would like to release. The pieces of paper are thrown into the fire, and the group witnesses these statements go up in smoke. After the fire, they share a potluck dinner and relate what they have just experienced.

“The next morning, we all wake up to a new sun,” said Mary Beth. “We start anew when the light begins to come back.”

As a sacred fire concludes, the assembled group is encouraged to remember that the spirit of the fire stays with them.

“There’s a very loving presence out there that also resides in our hearts,” said Cindy. “And there are various ways for people to get in touch with it. Sitting with others around a sacred fire is one of those ways. People say they feel they have come home when they experience a community fire and there arises a sense of well-being. Our ancestors knew this and now it is available to us.”

Ancient Connections

Cindy Fogle, a Firekeeper with the Sacred Fire Community, readily acknowledges that her fires in Maggie Valley are taking place on Cherokee land and feels it is important to honor these people and the strong Cherokee ancestral presence that still resides here.

A few years ago, her community held a specialty fire featuring Patty Grant-Edgemon, a Behavioral Health Consultant for the Cherokee Indian Hospital and member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian (EBCI). Patty shared her wisdom and teachings about forgiveness relating to the historical grief and trauma experienced by the Cherokee and all indigenous peoples who have faced removal and genocide. That evening, 37 attendees from four states were present to hear her words. Patty travels the country speaking to church and civic groups in an attempt to bring about healing and understanding.

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Comments (1)

Wonderful article!

I have been going to these fires, and they're really helpful during this time of uncertainty in the world. Thank you for sharing this article with us. I'm hoping that more people from all walks of life throughout our region will discover this ancient tradition of gathering around the fire and just being together, sharing in each others' sorrows and victories in life.